According to legend, Camelot was the greatest castle ever built. It served as the main court of the mythical King Arthur. Camelot was surrounded by plains and forests and was built alongside a river, downstream from Astolat, where Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott" lived. A glorious cathedral, dedicated to St. Stephen, was the religious center of Arthur's court. The Round Table, an enchanted model of the table used at the Last Supper, was located there.
Unfortunately for historians and archaeologists, according to the legends, King Mark of Cornwall, the famed enemy and uncle of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, eventually destroyed Camelot after the Battle of Camlann and the fall of the Round Table. Many locations have been suggested for the ruins, and some, citing the fact that its first appearance was in Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, a 12th century poem by Chretien de Troyes, claim it does not exist. However, if there was a historical King Arthur, then he must have had a fortress used as his court, which would be the historical Camelot. There are three main contenders for the castle:
Cadbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort identified for at least five centuries as Camelot;
Caerleon, a Roman fortress used with an amphitheater identified locally as the Round Table;
and Caerwent, a Roman market town used as the capital of the Kingdom of Gwent after the Romans left around 410.
